Yellowknife springs into annual trade show

A total of 185 exhibitors gathered at the Multiplex last weekend for the 2018 Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce Spring Trade Show.

An estimated 8,000 people attended this year’s event, which is the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce's largest revenue generator of the year. Businesses were charge $250 to set up shop in the DND gym and $850 to be in the arena itself.
“People choose to come here because it’s a great way to promote their products and services, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Deneen Everrett, executive director of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce. “We have everyone from an epic food court with Mexican food, pizza and donairs. We also have Harley’s doing piercings on-site as well.”
The piercings that Everett spoke of were accompanied by on-site tattoos at the Harley’s Hard Rock Saloon booth, a first for the show.
“This is the first time ever we are able to do this here, we went through all the health codes to make sure we were under code,” said Harley's employee Sara Handley as she worked the booth on Saturday. “The health inspector has already come by twice today.”

Businesses at this year’s show ranged from well known local ventures like Polar-Tech to start-ups such as Raven Web Services.
While the trade show is a big source of revenue for the chamber, Everett said she aims to make it an affordable event so businesses can make the most of the weekend. One of the businesses at this year’s show was Product of My Environment (POME) Clothing Company, a local venture that was back after attending the fall trade show last November.
“Since the November trade show we’ve seen our social media platform grow exponentially,” said Benjamin Beaudoin, founder of POME.
Local businesses were not the only ones benefiting from the weekend show. Companies from across Canada were also in attendance.
“We’re based from Edmonton, we decided to come out three years ago,” said Veronika Pajakowski, an employee with IQ Massager. “We’ve been here since.”
The Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce runs two trade shows a year; one in May and one in November.